Signing of the Collaboration Agreement to Promote the Nesting of Caretta Caretta Turtles on the Andalusian Coasts
Last Monday, March 14, a collaboration agreement was signed at the Ministry of Environment to restore the nesting of the loggerhead turtle in Andalusia. An initiative that contributes to the maintenance of marine biodiversity with continuous conservation efforts for this species .
The Minister of Environment and Territorial Planning, José Fiscal, signed a collaboration agreement last Monday with the Vice President of Organization and Institutional Relations of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), José Ramón Urquijo, and several representatives of the Andalusian aquariums participating in the project, including Natalia Izquierdo, Director of the Seville Aquarium.
This agreement aims to contribute to restoring the nesting of the Caretta caretta turtle on the Andalusian coasts, and for this purpose, the Ministry and CSIC have delivered pairs of this species to several Andalusian aquariums, including the Seville Aquarium. The specimens come from a joint project between the Ministry of Environment and the Doñana Biological Station (EBD), a CSIC research institute, for the nesting of these turtles in the Cabo de Gata-Níjar Natural Park, an initiative that has laid the foundation to prevent the extinction of loggerhead turtle nesting in the Eastern Atlantic.
The agreement establishes, among other premises, the pairing and temporary transfer of a pair of loggerhead turtles by the Ministry of Environment to each aquarium, as well as the health monitoring of the specimens, the direction and dissemination of the project. The aquariums commit to building or adapting their facilities for the reception of the turtles, the optimal maintenance of the enclosures where they will be located, and the veterinary control of the pairs. For its part, the Spanish National Research Council, through the Doñana Biological Station, commits to providing scientific advice for the entire project, as well as coordinating the database generated during the project and the possibility of publishing the most important scientific results.
The agreement states that in case natural mating occurs, followed by egg-laying, the staff of the Ministry of Environment and Territorial Planning, with the advice of the Doñana Biological Station, will manage and decide their fate. In the case of egg hatching, the Ministry commits to captive breeding in its Marine Environment Management Centers of a maximum of 130 turtle hatchlings. It will be the Ministry itself, in coordination with the Doñana Biological Station, who will decide the release conditions for all turtles born in artificial nests and raised in captivity for one year.
If egg hatching occurs in the aquariums, they will commit to the captive breeding of a certain number of specimens as decided in the project coordination meetings.
At the Seville Aquarium, you can find the pair of Caretta caretta turtles that are part of this great project in the main tank. Don’t leave without seeing them!
Don’t miss the project video here